Hello
I was wondering if anybody could help me get any information on
any of the below prints(second piece is an original)? Artist, year, name of piece etc..
I have been proposed these pieces in a sale and am looking for
feedback on these..any relevant input is welcomed..
Many thanks
best
f
The seller has no clueMany thanks GMH!
I was able to obtain additional pics.. and
have added one or two things..
Yet again many thanks for your help!!
Given your repeated requests, it may be worth imagining the position of those you seek favours from. Consider the additional information somebody might reasonably expect to receive before deciding whether to set aside their
'To Do' list and spend time assisting a stranger.
Perhaps the facts surrounding the sale could be clarified.
Questions:(i) Why doesn't the seller know what he or she is selling? What reason(s) did they give to explain their ignorance?
(ii) Are the six artworks in the photos only being offered to you as one combined lot?
(iii) Are these works available for a specified amount? If so, how substantial is the price?
(iv)
"I have been proposed these pieces in a sale" is written in a manner suggesting you've been offered the works in a
private sale, at a
fixed price. The text also suggests an offer has been made to
you specifically โ as opposed to the works being available to the public at large.
Choice of wording in the statement,
"The seller has no clue", further implies that the seller is an
individual, i.e. not a company or institution.
Would this understanding of the status of the seller and circumstances of the sale be correct?
__________
Details like these matter. They have potential impact on the willingness of others to help you.
One could imagine different scenarios:1. Although not the case in this instance, a collector might already own art they know little or nothing about. In other words, that collector would
already be invested. They appreciated the art enough to acquire it despite being unaware of its creator. Only
afterwards do they ask for a hand with identifying the work.
This kind of commitment points to an
art-lover mindset. It can easily generate goodwill among other art lovers โ encouraging them to help if they're in a position to do so. That is what happened in recent threads, like
here and
here.
Requests for assistance in such a scenario seem consistent with the role and spirit of the forum.
2. The incomplete details you've provided could, at a stretch, indicate your situation being as follows:
A private seller is offering a specific print you wish to add to your collection, but only as part of a
lot comprising six other pieces. Even if you aren't keen on the other works, trying to identify them beforehand is understandable (especially if the sale price for the lot exceeds the market value of the one print you actually do want).
In this instance, it's likely that a number of forum members would sympathise with the unusual position you had found yourself in โ and therefore want to help.
Here again, requests for assistance seem consistent with the role and spirit of the forum.
3. Certain aspects of your posts hint that your situation might instead be closer to the following:
Each of the artworks is being offered separately, not as a combined lot. The seller isn't an individual, and the pieces are not part of a private sale. Nor are the works being sold at a fixed price. Rather, they are scheduled for
auction at some local auction house or estate sale where the staff lacks the art knowledge to correctly identify them.
In this instance, references to
"I have been proposed these pieces in a sale" and
"the seller has no clue" would arguably be misleading (possibly by intention).
With the artworks also being numerous and so different to each another, such a scenario points less to an art-lover mindset than an
opportunist mindset. Presumably, the speculator would look to exploit any information asymmetry (for example, between themselves, an auction house, and rival bidders) resulting from knowledge generously shared with them by other forum members.
A random member chiefly concerned with financial gain would
not generally receive much assistance from me. My priorities lie elsewhere.
[However, the number of artworks for which help was being sought might well be a factor: I'd be more inclined to make an effort if asked to identify a single work. But if the figure jumped to five or six, it would feel to me as if the asker were taking advantage of people's generosity. Keep in mind that art consultants get paid very well to carry out this sort of work.]
That said, I've no serious issue of principle with these types of requests โ
provided the relevant speculator has
from the very outset been
upfront and honest about his or her motivations. Without full transparency, their posts can be perceived as deceitful and abusing the goodwill of the forum.
__________
No doubt, other possible scenarios exist besides those listed above. If I missed one that describes your situation with greater accuracy, do let us know.
The point is just to be
fair โ by offering forum members all the information they reasonably need to make informed decisions about whether, under a given set of circumstances, they wish to volunteer their time and expertise for some stranger on the internet.
